Kaitlyn skipped downstairs to her dad's workshop to see him working away at the newest version of the mini arc reactor to replace the one he currently had in his chest. "That's coming together nicely", she commented.

"Thanks", Tony said. He then noticed that she was wearing summery dress, prefect for the beach "Where are you off to?" he asked.

"I'm going for a walk on the beach with Josh", Kaitlyn replied "I won't be gone long. An hour or two tops", she promised.

"Ok", Tony said "be careful".

"It's just the beach near our house, I'll be perfectly safe", Kaitlyn assured him "if you want, you can stop by and walk me home or we could do something…some father-daughter thing", she suggested "but much later though, since my friends are coming over!"

Tony smiled at her happy dance. While he was still very wary of mutants, he had to admit that they were good for her unlike those human friends of hers. Mostly because Kaitlyn could be herself. "Sounds good", Tony said "I'll see you in a couple of hours". Kaitlyn nodded and then left the workshop.

"See you later Pepper!" the young ginger called as she crossed the floor to the front door.

"Have fun!" Pepper called from where she sat on the sofa, working away on her laptop. Kaitlyn pulled open the door to find her boyfriend standing on the other side along with their blonde haired friend, the occasional ditz, Camille Brooke and stereotypical jock, Ryan Fitzgerald.

"Hey, guys. What are you all doing here?" Kaitlyn asked wondering why her friends had turned up. The only friends she was expecting today were the ones from Xavier's school, not her human friends.

"Well, I thought we'd change our plans. Stay here for a pool party", Josh said "figured your dad wouldn't mind, right?"

"Uh…" Kaitlyn started.

"Thanks babe", Josh said giving her a kiss on the cheek before sidestepping around her to go into the house. Kaitlyn watched Camille and Ryan enter before she closed the door.

"So much for a peaceful walk on the beach", Kaitlyn grumbled and then forced a smile on her face as she turned to face her friends "you guys know where the pool is. I'll grab some towels and be out in a minute", she told them.

"Cool", Camille said.

"You da best Kait!" Ryan cheered pushing Camille toward the direction of the pool, Josh following after them.

"I see plans have changed then?" Pepper remarked as Kaitlyn came over, flopping onto the sofa, face down.

"Yep", she mumbled into the cushion.

"If you don't want them here, there are ways to get them removed", Pepper reminded her "isn't that right JARVIS?"

"Absolutely Miss Potts. Miss Stark, would you like me to initiate the House Party Breakup Protocol?" the AI offered.

Kaitlyn huffed and pushed herself up "I'm grateful for the offer JARVIS but I could do with the distraction", she said "though if you could keep an eye on the pool area while they're here, I'd appreciated it".

"Of course. Shall I tell your father that they're here?"

Kaitlyn shook her head, standing up "No, I'll let him know. Thank you JARVIS", she said. So for the second time that day, she was heading back down to Tony's workshop.

"You're back quick", Tony remarked.

"Never left", Kaitlyn said "Josh decided to change the plans. Instead he brought Camille and Ryan here for a pool party".

"Do you want them to be here?" Tony asked, noting that she looked less than pleased by it.

"Honestly? No, not particularly", Kaitlyn admitted "but I think having them here would be a good thing. It'll keep my mind off of…stuff".

"Alright. As long as you're sure", Tony said.

"Yeah I'm sure", Kaitlyn confirmed "and I've got JARVIS keeping an eye out".

"She's right, sir", JARVIS spoke up.

"And don't worry dad I'll make sure they behave themselves", Kaitlyn assured him, squeezing his shoulder before she left. She headed up to one of the bathrooms to grab some towels before going to the pool. The ginger set the towels down on the nearest deckchair and slowly approached the pool.

"Come Kait! Get in!" Camille urged from the shallower end of the pool. Josh was lazily floating on his back while Ryan stood next to Camille.

"Nah, I'm good thanks", Kaitlyn assured her trying not to eye the water nervously. The water torture coming to the forefront of her mind despite her attempts to push it back. She knew that the experience…which was putting it very mildly…was going to leave scars: physical, emotional and psychological. But she wasn't about to show her friends how much it affected her. She didn't need their pity or their sympathy. She just needed them to treat her like they always had.

"Sorry Kait, that answer doesn't work for me", Ryan said pulling himself out of the water.

"Ryan! No!" Kaitlyn shrieked as he picked her up and tossed her into the water. As soon as she plunged into the chlorine saturated liquid, everything about being drowned came rushing to the surface. The ginger thrashed in the water, feeling many sets of hands on her shoulders forcing her down. Streams of bubbles emanated from her mouth as she cried out, flailing wildly around.

The rational part of her mind was telling her that nothing was holding her down, that she could swim to the surface. But none of that was even registering with her as the panic set in. Josh tried to grab her, to pull her to safety but she kept twisting out of his grip.

"Get her out!" Camille shouted at him when he surfaced yet again without her. Even Ryan was struggling. Suddenly Tony burst into the room Tony, not slowing down as they dove into the water. He wrapped his arm around the unconscious ginger and swam to the surface. He laid her down on the tiled floor and proceeded to give her mouth to mouth.

"Come on sweetheart, breathe", Tony pleaded as he continued to give his daughter CPR. Less than a minute later, Kaitlyn woke, coughing up water.

"Daddy", she whispered before she burst into tears. Tony hugged the teenager, rubbing her back as she began to ramble while she cried "I…c-couldn't break free…wasn't strong enough…those hands all around…"

"It's ok. Its ok Kait. You're safe", Tony said in a calm soothing tone "they can't hurt you anymore" he looked up at the three teenagers as he rubbed his daughter's back "You three get dried and dressed", Tony ordered "then we're gonna have a little talk". He gathered up Kaitlyn and carried her out of the room.

"Oh my god! What happened?" Pepper asked practically jumping off sofa when she saw a soaking wet Tony carrying and equally wet Kaitlyn.

"She had a little accident", Tony replied "Would you mind coming upstairs with us?"

"Of course", Pepper said. She followed Tony up to Kaitlyn's room where she grabbed the teenager a towel and some clean clothes.

"I'm gonna go talk to your friends", Tony told Kaitlyn as Pepper dried her off "be back in a minute".

"Go easy on them", Kaitlyn said quietly "they didn't know it would affect me".

"No promises", Tony said and then left the room.

"Mr Stark, I'm sorry", Ryan said quickly when Tony walked down the stairs "I didn't know she'd freak out like that. It was just a bit of fun".

"Well, your 'fun' almost made my daughter drown", Tony said, angrily "and you…" he turned to Josh "you should've stuck to your original plans. Now I want all three of you to leave, right now".

Camille and Ryan headed toward the front door while Josh hung back. "Mr Stark I…" he began.

"Josh, leave", Tony cut in "and I suggest you don't come back for a few days. Kait needs time to heal". The dark haired teen nodded. As much as he wanted to stay to comfort his girlfriend, he knew that Tony was right. Kaitlyn needed time to heal. He just hoped that whatever she went through, she'd be able to open up to him about it…eventually.

"Could you tell her that I'm sorry and that I said goodbye?" Josh said and Tony nodded. The teenager turned and left with his friends.

"I can't believe they did that to you!" Faye exclaimed "stupid humans". When she and the other mutants arrived at the mansion, they learned what Kaitlyn's other friends had done.

"They're not stupid", Kaitlyn defended "Ryan just wanted me to join in with the fun".

"Fun that almost got you killed", Logan growled from the doorway, making the teenagers look over at him.

"And that's our cue to leave", the twins chorused. Willa, Dawn, Morgan, Kai and Faye got up from where they'd been sitting and left the room.

"Logan, it was an accident", Kaitlyn told him "they didn't know I was going to be triggered by the pool. I didn't know it was going to happen".

"I think you did know. That's why you said 'no", Logan shot back.

Kaitlyn sighed "ok, fine. I didn't know I was going to have a panic attack like that but after what I'd been through…I wasn't keen on getting into the water anytime soon", she admitted.

"But your so called friends didn't respect your wishes. Ryan just threw you in anyway", Logan continued "and your boyfriend didn't do anything to stop him".

"Well, whats done is done. My boyfriend…my friends are sorry. And…" Kaitlyn started.

"Sorry! They disregarded your choice and almost cost you your life!" Logan cut her off, his voice coming out in a deep growl as he remembered the same thing happening to Diana. How her boyfriend disregard for wellbeing had her stabbed because he wanted to have a few drinks with friends.

Kaitlyn startled at his tone, her eyes going wide and Logan immediately realised his mistake when she took a step away from him. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he turned away from her, trying to get his emotions under control. "Kait, I'm sorry", Logan said, quietly having managed to calm down "I just don't like you getting hurt".

"I know", Kaitlyn said, softly "I am tougher than I look, remember? I'll bounce back. Its just going to take more time than normal" seeing that he was calm but still quite a bit upset, she suggested "how about we go for a walk?"

"Sure", Logan agreed. A walk with his Mate was probably what he needed right now.